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Sunday, November 27, 2011

A day on Captiva Island…

Since we are very close to Sanibel and Captiva Islands we decided we had better go visit Captiva since the weather was very nice in the low 80’s and it will soon change with an impending cold front. It is only about 5 miles from our park to the toll bridge that takes you over to Sanibel Island. The toll is $6.00 which is a bit high for the toll in my opinion since they also charge $2.00 per hour anywhere you want to park once you make it over to either Sanibel Island or Captiva Island.

Despite all these consumer taxes we decided to stay most of the day out on the island and just enjoy the time spent there. The two lane road going through Sanibel Island was slow moving with speed limits below 40 as most were at 30 to 35. Combine this with a art festival on the island and the post thanksgiving crowd there was a lot of stopping and starting as cars stopped allowing people to cross the road.

Many Christmas decorations were being put up and there are a lot of “haves” out on the island. Not many of the “have-nots.” However many properties in this area are listed for sale. The home to the right is one of the few homes for sale that was actually visible from the road. Most homes are landscaped in such a way as to protect the privacy of the “haves.” They don’t want the “have nots” seeing what they are up to…

There are several well spaced public beach accesses along the scenic drive but our goal was to go to the far end of Captiva Island. When you get to Turner Beach you are about to cross a small bridge that leaves Sanibel Island and arrives on Captiva Island. Captiva Beach is located at the end of Captiva Drive. There are no restrooms, although port-a-potties were present and parking is very limited (about 35 cars). Pets are not allowed on the beach and alcohol is also not allowed. No one seemed to follow either of these rules… :)

Captiva Beach is a beautiful fine white sand beach with bluish green waters that lap ever so quietly along the shoreline. It reminded up a lot of the corona beer commercial of the two chairs on the white sand beach… This area is known for its shells and there are oodles of small pastel shells dotting the shoreline.

We were lucky enough to get into one of the parking spots as someone was leaving just as we arrived – lucky us. We spent the remainder of the afternoon on the beach where we enjoyed our lunch that we brought and the wonderful waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Sunning, shelling, lounging, reading, a little imbibing and fishing was on our menu that afternoon and I was even able to land a small flounder which will end up as supper soon…

The day was one of those perfect days on the beach… and as the day was coming to a close we watched the sunset over Sanibel Island and reflected upon what a grand day this indeed was…

8 comments:

I guess Captive/Sanibel has changed a lot since we were last there. It sounds like Palm Beach. I hate all those parking meters, and $2.00 an hour is definitely high. We bought a Florida "mini" sunpass for $5 and it is supposed to only cost us $2 for the toll to the islands.. You can get them at Publix or CVS At least we'll save a little money there. We're looking forward to spending a few days kayaking there.

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